Consumer Protection Movement Falters

Inefficient redressal mechanism and insufficient efforts by government that have made consumer protection movement a failure, according to a recent survey .

The study across five states -Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha and Tripura -by Indian Institution of Public Administration (IIPA) has also revealed that majority of respondents admitted that they did not know whom to approach in case of violations of the consumer protection laws.

It said,about 57.6% of the respondents were of the view that people are silent sufferers as nobody wants to take initiatives.

Over 67% said they are unaware of the laws despite they having been in existence for nearly 28 years, while the rest 33% were either aware of the law to large extent or to some extent.

Consumer affairs department will set up Grahak Suvidha Kendras (customer care centres) one each in seven regions on a pilot basis for three years.

These will be to advice, counsel consumers and also assist them in registering their complaints in the consumer forums.

These centres will be set up in Lucknow or Chandigarh in north while in the south it will come up either in Bangalore, Chennai or Hyderabad.